Eight Arts Educators to Receive the Arts Institutes 2020 AIM Awards

Thu, 04/16/2020 - 07:42am | By: Mike Lopinto

In its 3rd year, The Arts Institute of Mississippi (AIM) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) honors high school level arts teachers that have made an impact through exemplary achievements in arts education throughout the state of Mississippi.

“These recipients represent the movers and shakers in arts education throughout our state, and we applaud their lasting contributions to the Arts that merit public recognition and acclaim,” said Dr. Jay Dean, executive director of AIM.

The recipients of the 2020 AIM Awards are high school teachers in the Arts disciplines, including creative writing, dance, music (band, symphony orchestra, choir, and other ensembles), theatre, and visual arts. The award recipients will be recognized virtually or at a special event, details to be decided.

Recipients of the 2020 AIM Awards are:

· Renna Moore, Visual Arts at Power APAC in Jackson, Miss.

Renna Moore is a dynamic arts educator at The Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC) program, which serves students in Jackson Public Schools. Under her guidance, numerous students have won state, regional and national Art awards. Moore also serves as the director for the Secondary Educators division of the Mississippi's Art Educators Association. In this role, she works with and mentors high school teachers from north Mississippi to the Coast, teaches professional development, and coordinates annual art events that unite the Arts community.

 

· Clinnesha D. Sibley, Literary Arts at Mississippi School for the Arts (MSA) in Brookhaven, Miss.

Clinnesha D. Sibley, named as one of twenty-four “change-makers” across the United States by the National Arts Strategies Creative Communities Fellow Program in 2017, is the Literary Arts Instructor at MSA and a published author of plays, poetry, monologues and essays. Sibley’s innovative instructional approaches have kept the program current and relevant to the field. Under her guidance, their program's journal publication is now award-winning, and her students have won Scholastic Writing Awards at the national level.

 

· Olivia Drinkwater, Music and Theatre at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Hattiesburg, Miss.

For over 22 years, Olivia Drinkwater has been positively impacting and inspiring students to become passionate actors, singers, and musicians—as a classroom teacher and choral director at Sacred Heart Catholic School. Drinkwater is praised for having a profound impact on the Hattiesburg arts community, working tirelessly in making theatre arts accessible to the young citizens and expanding the cultural diversity of the industry to include southern artists. She championed the development of a Musical Theatre Program at the school, where none existed prior, and has provided active learning and performative opportunities for her students at Sacred Heart. Drinkwater is also an active member of the community, serving as Co-artistic Director of Center Stage Troupe and company member of Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera.

 

· Daniel Martinez, Director of Orchestral Activities at Gulfport School District in Gulfport, Miss.

As the Director of Orchestral Activities at Gulfport High School and Music Director of the Gulf Coast Symphony Youth Orchestra, Daniel Martinez has been positively impacting the lives of young musicians since 2006. Martinez has developed a diverse string program that rivals any in the state of Mississippi, and regularly produces students who due to the experiences provided by the program are gaining valuable scholarship opportunities.

 

· Harvey Jackson, Director of Choral Activities Gentry High School in Indianola, Miss.

Harvey Jackson’s teaching career includes both classroom and choral music education at Gentry High School in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District. Under Jackson’s leadership, his choir, the Gentrytes, has received numerous superior ratings in both sight-reading and performance on the district and state levels; they have traveled the U.S. competing in various choral invitational festivals, where all three performing ensembles (Concert Choir, Chamber Chorale, and Ladies Ensemble) won first place in their respective categories along with other awards, such as Outstanding Choral Group, Sweepstakes Choral Program, and the Adjudicator Award. Jackson boasts his commitment to arts education with 98% of the graduating choir members receiving choral scholarships to various universities within the state.

 

· Justin Harvison, Director of Bands at Germantown High School in Madison, Miss.

Justin Harvison is the founding Director of Bands for the Germantown Band Program, which consists of approximately 500 students in grades 6 through 12. Since the band’s inception in 2011, it has enjoyed extensive awards and accolades throughout the country during their 9-year existence including consistent all-superior ratings in marching concert and sight-reading. The band program’s premier instrumental ensemble, the Symphonic Band, became the first band from Mississippi to be invited as a featured Band for the 27th Annual Music for All National Concert Festival in Indiana.

 

· Dr. Cassandra Weiss, Music Educator at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Cassandra Weiss has been a music teacher and educator for more than 20 years, teaching all K-12 and university levels. Weiss has passionately advocated for the arts through vocal and instrumental music while starting new programs such as guitar and piano classes. Her choirs have earned consistent superior and first place ratings at state and national competitions. She is extremely enthusiastic about teaching music to non-performing students, ensuring that all students learn to appreciate music. She is music teacher at Oak Grove High, minister of music at Purvis UMC, and an adjunct professor at William Carey.

 

· Sarah Williams, Dance Educator at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Sarah Williams is the founding Dance Educator at Oak Grove High School, a position that she proposed to the district years ago. This entrepreneurial spirit, in partnership with an infallible work ethic, often leads to great success, and as importantly, more opportunities and professional connections for and the initiatives she undertakes. Williams also provides coaching for the USM’s Dance Team, the Southern Misses. She serves on several arts boards and is an active member of the Mississippi Dance Leader Alliance.

To learn more about the 2020 AIM Award recipients, visit usm.edu/arts/aim-award-recipients.php